"And you will face the Sea of Darkness, and all therein that may be explored"

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Halloween Horrors-Godzilla

All right, time now for something a little less scary, but still a favorite of mine...I'm talking about none other than the King of Monsters, Godzilla. It all started back in 1954, when Godzilla first came up from the depths to terrorize Japan. The first Godzilla film was the most serious, and it is pretty somber, especially the scenes of the aftermath of Godzilla's rampage-buildings reduced to smoking rubble, dead and injured laying on the floors of overflowing hospitals, etc. Remember, Japan is the only country to have gone through being hit with atomic weapons, and Godzilla was a walking metaphor for that, and the aforementioned scenes resemble nothing more than a nation at war.

Godzilla has changed over the years... he's gone from rampaging monster to protector of the Earth, and back to rampaging monster again. His physical appearance has changed as well, reflecting his staus with humanity. When he was a monster hero, his face got shorter and his eyes bigger, making him look almost cute. But no matter what his status is, Godzilla is always ready for a fight, be it with the military with their tanks and Masers and planes, or with other prehistoric throwbacks like Rodan and Anguirus, or with monsters from space, like King Ghidorah and Orga.

Why do I like Godzilla so much? Well, I admire the fact that he never gives up....he always keeps fighting, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him. I also just like the fact that he's a gigantic, radiation-mutated dinosaur that breathes atomic breath at his enemies...you really can't get much cooler than that. And, well, I guess I still like Godzilla because he reminds me of my childhood. I always loved watching Godzilla movies on Creature Feature or Son of Svengoolie's show, and it still, in some way, takes me back when I watch the King kick the crap out of Tokyo, the military, or whatever monster made the fatal mistake of crossing his path. I've outgrown a lot of things, and I've gotten jaded about lots of things, but I'm still enough of a kid inside to enjoy Godzilla's adventures.

There's so many of his films, it's hard to pick one favorite, but if you haven't seen any of his films, start with the first one, and get the original Japanese version if at all possible. It's far superior to the Americanized version with gratuitous Raymond Burr footage spliced in. From there, here's some of my faves: Destroy all Monsters, Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster, Terror of Mechagodzilla, Godzilla vs Mothra, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, Godzilla 2000, and Godzilla :Final Wars.

The thing to keep in mind when watching Godzilla movies is that it's supposed to be fun! Don't worry about the fact that a device that makes an artificial black hole isn't a great idea, or why don't aliens just make a bomb to drop on Godzilla instead of building a robot version of him...logic will get you nowhere on Monster Island. Just make some popcorn, have some beverages ready(soft drinks or not-so-soft drinks), and perpare to have a good time.

Oh, and don't even bring up that 1998 piece of shit made by the dorks that made Independence Day...that is NOT Godzilla. The King does not run from the Army, lay eggs, and eat tuna. There's a scene in Godzilla: Final Wars where the real Godzilla runs into this CGI-made pretender. It's the shortest monster battle in movie history...it's also on YouTube if you want to check it out.

So, grab some snacks, get some Godzilla movies, and prepare to smash some buildings, fight some monsters, and have a monster-sized good time. Hail to the King!

I saw the original version of 'Godzilla' (with subtitles!!) in the theatre after it's re-release a couple of years ago...nothing funny about it...dark and really frightening, visceral...I hate the slick, soulless CGI crap.